The photo shows the massive bird and the lunch-size rodent squaring off in a staring contest, perhaps waiting to see who will make the first move.

Speaking with CBS News, the photographer said the squirrel appeared to be defending its babies, explaining the rodent kept darting into a hollow in the tree.

The photographer of 21 years captured several photos of the interaction between the animals.

“Eagle tries to catch squirrel, but squirrel jumps in hollow inside tree, appears in another hole…kinda like whack a mole, using a squirrel instead!” he explained on Facebook.

“THIS picture looks like the squirrel is saying “Oh Crap! LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE MADE A POOR CHOICE!” the photographer quipped.

Stevens’ original photo in his series has been shared over 12,000 times.

“Absolutely blown away by the response to my squirrel versus eagle photos!” he said. “Definitely have to include that series in my new book, which coincidentally, will be about the eagles that I have encountered here near Lincoln, Maine!”

“Thanks to everyone for pushing this further than I ever thought would be possible!” he said.